A Fully Automatic, Multi-Camera System
that Produces Videos Without a Crew

Official NESEA Tour de Sol information is available from the sponsor,
the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at
413 774-6051,
and
50 Miles Street,
Greenfield, MA 01301,
and
nesea@nesea.org .
All media enquiries should be addressed to ...

The following is copyright Michael H. Bianchi.
Permission to copy is
granted provided each Report is presented without modification
and this notice is attached.
For other arrangements, contact me at +1-973-822-2085 .

Report #1: The Entrants

The competition is divided into several CATEGORIES, each with its own rules and
requirements.

MONTE CARLO-STYLE RALLY

#31 Hybrid Turbo Hybrid Insight
Jack Lee and Babe
Venice, FL

Hybrid Turbo Honda Insight: For the promotion of green vehicles we assist you
in turbo'ing your Insight for lean burn at true highway speeds. Sky rocket
take-offs that will leave SUV's in the dust.

- - - - - - - - -

#37 Maya-100
Electrovaya
Mississauga, Canada

Electrovaya has developed a lithium-polymer battery with the world's highest
energy density of any rechargeable battery. Well established as a battery
supplier to the computer and IT industry, Electrovaya is entering the electric
vehicle market with a joint venture in Norway with SmartCar conversions.
Maya-100 is the company's test-bed for their battery use in an electric
vehicle. www.Electrovaya.com

Hymotion's Plug-in Hybrid system (PHEV) can provide hybrid vehicles with a 100+
mpg fuel efficiency and fight climate change. The advantages of Hymotion's
PHEV includes better fuel economy, fewer visits to the gas station, lower fuel
costs, less pollution, and an all electric "stealth" mode. This is made
possible by Hymotion's proprietary Lithium Ion Polymer battery technology and
plug-and-play PHEV system. The system can be used with a Prius, or a Ford
Hybrid Escape. www.Hymotion.com

- - - - - - - - -

((The following entrants don't have a blurb. I suspect most are coming in
their personal vehicles.))

The NTID Ebike Club is proud that we have made our own bike from scratch. The
National Technical Institute for the Deaf is one of eight colleges at Rochester
Institute of Technology. We put together ideas and designed our own frame
using CAD and built it, (fabrication, machining, and welding) in 5 weeks!
There are 12 deaf students in the club. We chose to do this for the mechanical
and electrical learning experience and for fun.

Optibike is the leader in high performance electric bikes with style.
Optibikes are designed for save smooth operation at 30+ mph, deliver twice the
speed with half the effort, and have exceptional power. Last year Optibike,
with Craig Weakley on board, took first place in the three-hour range event at
the Tour de Sol. www.Optibike.com

- - - - - - - - -

#9 Lawrence Hayes
Pauling, NY
- - - - - - - - -

#7 Thomas Vreeland
Berkshire School
Sheffield, MA
- - - - - - - - -

#22 Charles Kellogg
Proctor Academy
Andover, NH
- - - - - - - - -

#23 The RunAbout Cycle
RunAbout Cycles
Florence, MA

RunAbout Cycles is one-year old company that designs and builds electric
recumbent trikes designed for good clean fun. RunAbout offers the only
recumbent trike with full suspension, reverse and regen braking. Trikes have a
40-mile range and a top speed of 20 mph. They offer an enhanced cycling
experience, with twice the speed of a regular bike, but only have the effort.
www.RunAboutCycles.com.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is
committed t the use of green vehicle in their fleet operations. With over 500
vehicles statewide, the agency has one of the largest fleets of clean fuel
vehicles in the country. Last year, the GEM took first place in the 2-hour
range event for NEVs.

Mount Everett High School returns to the Tour de Sol with the Vreeland
Institute of Arts and Sciences. Mt. Everett's Project e-^(3) team will bring
its solar electric neighborhood vehicle and recharge its battery from the
Vreeland Institute's mobile alternative energy exhibit, which includes solar
powered alternative energy displays, a fuel cell, wind turbine, wireless
Internet access, web cameras and more!

- - - - - - - - -

TOUR DE SOL CHAMPIONSHIP PROTOTYPE ALTERNATIVE FUEL & HYBRID VEHICLES

#18 H2TOY
Intergalactic Hydrogen
Sandy, UT

Intergalactic Hydrogen provides MADE-IN-USA renewable energy products & cleaner
fuel options that work with today's infrastructure and beyond. We build multi-
fuel, hydrogen, methane, propane, biodiesel and ethanol automobiles and
appliances. We promote the clean fuel revolution through educational workshops
and engineering consultation. We invite you to reduce your footprint on the
plant with American Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) and declare your energy independence.

- - - - - - - - -

#10 Moritz
St. Mark's EV Club
St. Mark's School
Southborough, MA

The Moritz is a new entry to the Tour de Sol, but it will be St. Mark's EV
Club's fifth Tour. The most spectacular aspect of Moritz is how ordinary it
is! Its tank may be filled with reprocessed vegetable oil instead of
petroleum, but this Jetta has an unaltered production turbodiesel engine.

- - - - - - - - -

#2 The Attack
WPHS EV Team
West Philadelphia High School
Philadelphia, PA

The Hybrid Attack was designed as the world's first hybrid super car with 50
mpg and 0-60 time less than 4 seconds. It has a tubular steel frame and carbon
fiber body. A modified VW TDI powers the rear wheels. We plan to make this
vehicle a hybrid next year with an AC Propulsion motor.

- - - - - - - - -

#11 Fledge
DCE Hybrid Car Team
Delhi College
New Delhi, India

The car has been designed to meet the world's need for clean vehicles and suit
the Indian lifestyle and driving conditions. The drive train has been
specially configured to give maximum efficiency and economy. The team
comprises seven mechanical engineering students from Delhi College of
Engineering, the premier engineering institute in India.

- - - - - - - - -

#15 Vegginator
Trenton High School
Trenton, NJ

The Tornado Fuel Masters purchased a 1985 VW Golf in non-running condition.
Students repaired, modified, and designed graphics for the Vegginator. The
students reformulated their inner-city high school's cafeteria fryer grease
into biodiesel, which they are using to run their car.

- - - - - - - - -

#14 Vogelbilt
Carl Vogel
West Babylon, NY

Vogelbilt's 2004 Ford 6.0L Diesel was modified two years ago for increased fuel
economy. Over the past two years it has been driven over 80,000 miles using
only 100% biodiesel. Carl will also bring his electric motorcycle that stared
in the CoolFuelRoadtrip.com.com TV series that will debut April 22, 2006 and run for
eighteen weeks.

Greasecar and Madhouse Minis are collaborating on a car that runs on straight
vegetable oil. The 1976 Austin Mini Clubman, with Peugeot 1.5l diesel engine,
will demonstrate the Greasecar Vegetable Fuel System. The conversion kit comes
with everything you need to run on vegetable oil, which is cleaner, safer and
less expensive than petroleum based fuel. www.GreaseCar.com

- - - - - - - - -

#32 Viking 32
Western Washington University Hybrid Club
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA

With funding from the US Federal Highway Administration, students and faculty
at Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute built Viking 32
to demonstrate the first automotive use of carbon-fiber. Viking 32 offers
survivable front impact protection at up to 80 kph. In addition, side impact
and roof strength exceed US Federal motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

The Lorax is named after Dr. Suess's character whose mission was to educate
people about the environment. The Methacton Electric Car Club educates the
public about alternative energy sources one person at a time at our school,
during field trips to nearby schools and at summer camps.

The Phantom Sol was created in 2001 to dispel the myths that electric vehicles
are impractical, weak, expensive and not much fun to drive. Originally a GMC
S15 pickup, this car has been drastically re-engineered to produce an
economical and powerful vehicle with exceptional performance and sleek
appearance.

- - - - - - - - -

#17 The Olympian
Burlington County Electechs
Burlington County Schools, NJ

The Electechs are students of Burlington County Institute of Technology and
Burlington County Community College. The Olympian has been greatly modified
with a revolutionary compound battery that offers an exceptional combination of
power, range and affordability. Left to right: Prof. Jack Braun and Dan
Carson of BCC and Mike Gladney and Eric Kozicki of BCIT.

- - - - - - - - -

#21 Revolution Ride
North Haven Community School
North Haven, ME

Since 2002, when students from Maine's smallest public high school built their
Vanagon Syncro electric vehicle and put it on the road, the van has been an
indispensable daily driver and teaching tool for the school. The 4wd,
7-passenger van is charged by a 5.2kw photovoltaic array installed on the
school and tied into the electric grid.

- - - - - - - - -

#22 EVermont's ECHO-EV
Agency of Natural Resources
Waterbury, VT

This Toyota ECHO conversion was recently designed and built by EVermont. It
has a Solectria drive system and a ZEBRA nickel sodium chloride battery for a
driving range of 100 miles between rechargings. EVermont also hopes to bring
their soon to be delivered Toyota Prius that is being converted to run on
hydrogen.

- - - - - - - - -

PROTOTYPE SOLAR-ASSISTED ELECTRIC VEHICLES

#18 Sunpacer
Jeff Ostroski
Cato-Meridian HS Technology Club
Cato, NY

Since 1992, the Sunpacer has participated in the Tour de Sol every year,
capturing first place in the One-person Solar category 11 times. This student-
engineering project aims to improve vehicle efficiency each year. It presently
has a range of 80 miles, to speed of 60 mph, and a demonstrated efficiency of
over 130 mpg.

- - - - - - - - -

#19 Woodstock
St. Mark's EV Club
St. Mark's School
Southborough, MA

Woodstock is a true Zero Emission Vehicle. The yellow Ford Ranger 4 X 4
was converted to run on battery power by St. Mark's School students Its
batteries recharge overnight with 100% renewable electricity from the grid.
Woodstock also gathers "free" energy from the sun via the 300 watt Evergreen
Solar panels over the cargo bed.

Penn Solar Racing is comprised of students from engineering, business and the
liberal arts. We utilize our classroom education in a real world setting to
engineer a fully functional solar car as well as manage resources, advertise
and obtain sponsorship. The team is committed to leadership, teamwork, and
educating the community about alternative energy.

- - - - - - - - -

#7 Zodiac
West Irondequoit Solar Car Team
West Irondequoit High School
Rochester, NY

Zodiac is back for another race. The team is made up of 14 students, 3
advisors, and 3 community volunteers from West Irondequoit High School in
Rochester, NY. The team is also working on a scratch built electric mini
cooper that will be ready to race in 2007. Updates on our progress can be
found at www.IHStechteam.com.

- - - - - - - - -

Report #2: What Sort of Person ...?

What sort of person enters the Tour de Sol? Here are some comments of some of
them found in a Tour de Sol press release:

Drew Gillett, who is entered in "Subdivision 1: Unmodified Hybrids Now on the
Market", is founder and owner of Solar Engineers in Bedford, NH. He says he is
entering an unmodified hybrid to demonstrate that such vehicles are capable of
achieving their EPA estimated gas mileages, which tend to be significantly
higher than actual gas mileages. "My wife and I regularly achieve [the EPA
estimate] in our '02 Prius, and [the Tour de Sol] is an opportunity to show
once again that [our Prius] is still doing the job." He says he's surprised
that the Hollywood crowd, like an increasingly growing number of average
Americans, has taken to hybrids. "I didn't know they were sexy and cool when I
bought one, and I guess they've become that now that gas is three bucks a
gallon and up in places -- and going higher this spring." (To hear an
approximately 1-minute interview with him, by NESEA's Steve D'Agostino, in MP3
format, visit Drew Gillett.)

Ricardo Bazzarella, who is in entered in "Subdivision 2: Plug-In Hybrids", is
co-founder, co-owner and president of Hymotion Inc. in Concord, Ontario, which
is producing a kit that can be used to convert a hybrid Toyota Prius or Ford
Escape to a "plug-in hybrid," and reduce the use of gasoline. He says it's no
real trouble to plug in a hybrid each day in order to recharge it. "Gas prices
are going higher and higher every day, and by taking the trouble of plugging in
your [hybrid] car, it gives you that [extra] option," he says. "You take that
standard hybrid vehicle, like the Prius or the Ford Escape, you add more
batteries and, voila, you've got yourself a plug-in hybrid. It gives you an
option to go 50 kilometers in pure electric mode, which is a beautiful thing."
(To hear an approximately 1-minute-30-second interview with him, by NESEA's
Steve D'Agostino, in MP3 format, visit Ricardo Bazzarella.)

Michael Dabrowski, who is entered in "Subdivision 2: Insight Modifications", is
founder, owner and operator of Genesis One in North Grosvenordale, CT. He has
been working to convert Honda Insights because they are the most fuel-efficient
hybrid on the market, with an EPA estimated rating of 57 miles per gallon. He
says hybrids can get a lot more miles per gallon than they now achieve.
"Theoretically, if you could put enough batteries onboard any hybrid --
especially with the new generation of batteries that are lightweight and with a
lot of density -- and you could push the electric portion of the hybrid to its
limit, the mileage would go up accordingly." He says he has conducted initial
experiments with his Insight, using new-generation batteries. "I've made
several runs at over 100 miles per gallon -- maybe 110," he says. (To hear an
approximately 2-minute interview with him, by NESEA's Steve D'Agostino, in MP3
format, visit Michael Dabrowski.)

Jack Lee, who is entered in "Subdivision 2: Insight Modifications", is founder,
owner and operator of Cannonball Enterprises in Venice, FL. He says you could
get 120 miles per gallon in a Honda Insight if you drive a steady 43 miles per
hour and don't hit any traffic lights -- but that this scenario is not a
realistic one. "I've developed a hybrid turbo -- I guess you could call it a
'hybrid-turbo hybrid' -- that will enhance that [performance]. I can get that
same 120 miles per gallon, but at a faster speed: 48 miles per hour." (To hear
an approximately 2-minute interview with him, by NESEA's Steve D'Agostino, in
MP3 format, visit Jack Lee.)

Justin Carven, who is entered in "Subdivision 3: Vegetable Oil", is founder,
owner and operator of Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems LLC in Easthampton, MA,
which offers a kit to convert a conventional diesel vehicle to run on vegetable
oil. He says it's no more trouble to use vegetable oil than to use biodiesel.
"Vegetable oil as a fuel is, in most cases right now, more readily available
and cheaper to get a hold of than biodiesel tends to be," he says. "Therefore,
a lot of people choose [vegetable oil] as an option so that they can run an
alternative fuel as well as save money." (To hear an approximately 2-minute
interview with him, by NESEA's Steve D'Agostino, in MP3 format, visit Justin
Carven.)

Carl Vogel, who is entered in "Subdivision 3: Biodiesel", is founder, owner and
CEO of Vogelbilt Corp. in West Babylon, NY. He says biodiesel is very cost-
effective. "With the tax incentives now, the price of biodiesel has come down
to what we're paying at the pump [for gasoline]," he says. He says this trend
is causing increasingly more consumers to switch from gasoline to biodiesel.
"Now that the [biodiesel] prices are the same [as] or less [than gasoline],
it's really an easy decision." (To hear an approximately 1-minute-30-second
interview with him, by NESEA's Steve D'Agostino, in MP3 format, visit Carl
Vogel.)

Report #3: Tour De Sol To Showcase Over 65 "Green" Cars At Saratoga Spring Auto Show

Today's Tour de Sol Press Release:

Tour De Sol To Showcase Over 65 "Green" Cars
At Saratoga Spring Auto Show

Winners -
Driving Toward Zero Carbon Emissions -
To Be Announced May 14

GREENFIELD MA May 8, 2006

Expectations are high as the Tour de Sol, America's number one green car show
and competition "driving toward zero carbon emissions" kicks off this week at
the Saratoga Spa State Park and Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs,
NY. Over 65 teams will compete for bragging rights and $10,000 in cash prizes
for the most fuel-efficient vehicles that aim to reduce oil use and climate
change emissions to zero.

Now in its 18th year, the Tour de Sol is a laboratory of automotive innovation
- and the largest green car show in the USA. After four days of competitions,
the general public is invited to visit with the teams and auto companies
offering advanced vehicles at the Tour de Sol exhibit at the Saratoga
Automobile Museum's Spring Auto Show, on Saturday, May 13, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
In addition to vehicles in the competition, Toyota will display its three
hybrids, including its new Camry hybrid, to be released May 15, and Lexus
GS450h to be released next month. Honda will display its compressed natural
gas vehicle, "the cleanest car on earth." Sponsors will showcase their
products, clean vehicle programs, Ford's hybrid Escape, and Honda's prototype
hydrogen-powered vehicle.

"For auto enthusiasts this is a tremendously exciting time - and it is
tremendously exciting for us to be able to celebrate and showcase the progress
made toward more environmentally-friendly vehicles," says Nancy Hazard of the
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), organizer of the Tour de Sol.
"But we must do much more - we must strive to create new ways of getting around
that do not emit carbon dioxide, the major source of climate change, and that
do not depend on oil. We can do it. We can do it with energy efficiency and
switching to clean domestically-produced energy and fuels."

"NYSERDA is pleased to bring the Tour de Sol to New York State so that
together, we can showcase innovative technologies that will help lesson our
dependence on foreign energy sources in the transportation sector," says Peter
R. Smith, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority, premier sponsor of the event.

The Tour de Sol challenges auto companies, the general public, students, and
entrepreneurs, to showcase new ideas and products and to compete in one of
three competitions. The Monte Carlo-style Rally and Fuel-Efficiency
Competition challenges the general public to demonstrate how efficiently they
can drive their hybrid or biofuel vehicles, or modifications of these vehicles.
The Tour de Sol Championship challenges entrants to build one-of-a-kind,
highway-worthy vehicles that aim to reduce oil use and climate change emissions
to zero. And the Around Town Vehicle Competition challenges entrants to design
motorized vehicles that could replace the conventional car in our communities
with zero carbon emission vehicles.

"We expect the modified hybrids to provide spectacular performance," says Jim
Dunn, CEO of the Center for Technology Commercialization and Monte Carlo-style
Rally sponsor. "We anticipate that the hybrids that have been modified to be
'plug-in' hybrids, and those with turbo-charged engines will get over 40%
better gas mileage than the EPA ratings, with one of them achieving over 100
mpg and capturing the Grand Champion award. We also expect the biofueled
vehicles to demonstrate their ability to reduce climate change emissions by
over 70%."

Several corporate entries in the Monte Carlo-style Rally hope to gain
visibility for their products. Hymotion, of Concord, Ontario in Canada offers
a kit that converts a conventional hybrid vehicle to a "plug-in" hybrid that
uses more electricity and less gasoline. Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems
offers a kit that converts a conventional diesel vehicle to operate on used
vegetable oil. Eastern Biofuels and Vogelbilt aim to demonstrate that
biodiesel can be used in a conventional diesel vehicle with no modifications,
and reduce oil dependence and climate change emissions dramatically. Over 30
teams will participate in the Monte Carlo-style competition this year.

"The American Lung Association has named transportation emissions the #1 health
threat, and transportation emits one third of all the climate change
emissions," says Dr. Robert Wills, technical director of the Tour de Sol
Championship. "The experimental vehicles brought to the Tour de Sol by student
and independent teams address this issue, and have led the way for the past 17
years."

Sixteen teams, including from as far away as India, have gathered to showcase a
dizzying array of ideas and technologies in the Tour de Sol Championship. Some
teams have chosen to build battery-electric vehicles, or hydrogen-powered
vehicles, with the vision that these vehicles can be powered by zero-carbon
electricity or hydrogen produced locally by wind and solar - and some of them
even have solar panels integrated into their vehicles. Others have chosen to
switch the drive train to a more efficient hybrid system, and still others have
chosen to switch to a biofuel - biodiesel or biomethane - that will
dramatically reduce health-threatening particulate emissions and climate change
emissions. One thing, however, that the entries have in common, is their
effort to increase the fuel efficiency of their vehicles so as to reduce fuel
use. Many of the vehicles are one-of-a-kind purpose-built vehicles, designed
to reduce energy use by being lighter and more aerodynamic. Teams will receive
trophies and $5,000 in prize money.

The newest competition at the Tour de Sol, the Around Town Vehicle Competition,
has attracted thirteen entries. Optibike and RunAbout Cycles hope to
demonstrate the range capabilities of their high-performance electric bikes and
trikes, while student and independent teams aim to demonstrate new ways of
getting around local communities with zero emission vehicles.

"Building an electric bike or a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) is a
tremendous learning opportunity," says Paul O'Brien of the Southern Berkshire
Regional School District, creator of the new NEV competition rules. "The
project involves research, problem solving, teamwork, computer and hands-on
experience, and creates awareness about our energy and environmental challenges
and possible solutions."

Premier sponsors of the 2006 Tour de Sol are the New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority and the Center for Technology Commercialization.
Additional key sponsors include the New York Power Authority, the Saratoga
Automobile Museum, Stewart's Shops, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation, Eastern Biofuels, New York Department of
Environmental Conservation, Toyota, the UK Trade & Investment, Honda, Kurkoski
Solar Electric, Westboro Toyota, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, E-
The Environmental Magazine, EIN Publishing, and GreenBiz.com.

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, organizer of the Tour de Sol, is
the Northeast's leading organization of professionals and concerned citizens
working in sustainable energy, and whole systems thinking. NESEA facilitates
the widespread adoption and use of sustainable energy by providing support to
industry professionals and by educating and motivating consumers to learn
about, ask for and adopt sustainable-energy and green-building practices.
NESEA accomplishes this through conferences, K-12 educational resources, its
members and chapters, its Sustainable Yellow Pages, and public events.

The general public
business and government leaders
manufacturers
students
entrepreneurs
hobbyists
hybrid and biofuel vehicle owners
anyone interested in learning more about advanced vehicles and
driving toward zero carbon emissions.

Report #5: Photos - First Photographs

Here are some early photographs of the entrants as they showed up for
technical testing on Wednesday, May 10th.

The Attack,
from West Philadelphia High School,
runs on biodiesel.
Originally conceived as a through-the-road parallel hybrid,
this year it is running strictly as an alternative fuel vehicle.
By next year they hope to complete the front-wheel electric drive.

Fledge,
from the Delhi College of Engineering in India.
A parallel hybrid conceived, researched, designed, and built by 7 friends at
Delhi College, with help from parents, technology and equipment companies,
and the Indian government.
The team members have already won the prize for the most disrupted biological
clocks.

eVermont,
from the eVermont projects,
is another take on the battery-electric vehicle.
This time a Zebra is married with Azure Dynamics (nee Solectria) a drive system
in a Toyota Echo.

Take a 1976 British Austin Mini Clubman,
drop in a Peugeot diesel engine,
plumb it for both biodiesel and vegetable oil operation
with components from Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems,
and you have something quite cute and unique.

The Lorax,
from
Methacton High School in Norristown Pennsylvania
returns,
with a keep-the-sun-off-me roof.

The Olympian returns,
this time with a combination of lead-acid and lithium ion batteries.
It is a joint project of Burlington County Institute of Technology and
Burlington County Community College.

Originally built for the American Solar Challenge,
Keystone from the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Solar Car Team
makes its first appearance at the Tour.
(Don't worry. The wheels are around here someplace!)

The rEVolutionride van has been in daily service on North Haven Island off
the coast of Maine since 1972.
It also is a valuable teaching tool.
Yes, those are battery boxes under the bench seats.

The St Mark's EV Club built Woodstock
as a demonstration both of a battery-electric truck that had practical use in
and around campus,
but also as an example of using solar energy without owning solar panels.
They buy their electrons from certified "green" energy suppliers.

Take a stock Volkswagen Jetta TDI, run it on 100% biodiesel produced
on campus from
leftover vegetable oil from the St Mark's School's food service and you have
Moritz,
an environmental education tool and economical practical transportation.

Sunpacer is a perennial.
This entrant from
Cato-Meridian High School's Technology Club, Cato NY,
has shown slow and steady progress since 1992.

As the name suggests,
Viking32 has a long pedigree.
Western Washington University Hybrid Club's
entry runs on biomethane captured from landfills.
Methane is many times more damaging a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide,
so this vehicle lowers greenhouse pollution as it drives.

Some of us think the Vogelbilt battery-electric motorcycle sounds the way all
motorcycles should sound. No roar; just a whisper.

But when Carl Vogel cannot ride his electric hog,
he hops into his
Ford F250 (also named Vogelbilt)
which has spent the past 3 years using nothing but
B100 biodiesel.

The Zodiac hails from
West Irondequoit High School in Rochester New York.
Another solar-electric vehicle with a long history at the Tour de Sol,
it also has a history of steady refinement.

Report #6: Team Profile: The Fledge

Necessity is the mother of all inventions and the mounting burden
of petroleum prices on the common man kindled the spark in us to
unearth the technology with a revolutionary drive-train.

So declares the handout for The Fledge, a one-person hybrid electric car from
seven engineering students at Delhi College of Engineering in India, that is a
project for their degree from the college in two months. "If we win the Tour
de Sol it will definitely help our grade."

"We started this car 1 1/2 years ago. We researched for about 8 months and
then we started building it. It is a rear wheel drive, driven by either the
gasoline engine or the electric motor, one at a time. A switch selects between
engine and motor mode." In electric mode, the accelerator pedal controls the
motor, and in gas mode that pedal controls the engine. The clutch has no
function in electric mode. The batteries are only charged when plugged in.
"The car is designed for urban traffic use. The electric mode has a range of
about 100 kilometers. On gasoline we have been getting 28 miles per liter,
which means more than 300 kilometers."

To the left of the driver's seat is a gear shift lever and the clutch pedal is
to the left of the transmission housing. On the right side of the housing are
the brake and accelerator pedals. It is licensed for on-road use, under some
restrictions, with a temporary license.

The windscreen wiper arrangement is unusual. There are two, one mounted at the
center of the bottom of the windscreen, the other at the center of the top.
The windscreen extends at the bottom to help duct air into the engine
compartment.

The batteries are mounted 4 in front and 4 in the rear of the vehicle for
balance. The custom built motor was a joint effort between the manufacturer
Rotomag and the students. The chassis was designed by the students and made of
welded steel 3 x 6 centimeter box-tubing. The body is made of fiber reinforced
plastic (FRP), designed by the students and manufacturer, AGM, together.

Other sponsors and financial supporters include JBM, Kayemel, Air India,
Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian Department of Science and Technology.

"We want to thank our teachers, our professors and especially our parents.
Their financial support and the emotional support over the last year and half
has been tremendous!" The initial self-investment was 150,000 Rupees.

The seven students, all 21 years old or less, are friends from New Delhi or
Rajajsdhan that met when they got to college. "We thought of doing something
good, something which could conserve and address this issue of rising energy
costs. In consultation with our teachers we came up with the idea of designing
our own hybrid car." They started without funding, but after seeing their
paper work companies started to fund parts of the cost. Their started learning
about hybrids. "We had no knowledge of what was a hybrid car." They looked at
the advantages and disadvantages. Why was it not popular in the markets? Why
weren't battery-only vehicles not doing well in the market?

When they started to think about solutions they built their first drive-train
as a bench-top exercise to test and measure performance. The chassis was
designed in the computer-aided design program SolidWorks and analyzed in the
drive train in a program called Advisor.

Why come to the Tour de Sol? This is half a world away from home! "We needed
to showcase what we had done." They looked for other competitions closer to
home but they didn't find any. "We searched for 40, 50 days." The Tour de Sol
proved the one they needed to go to.

I was interested to hear that, as of yet, there are no hybrids sold in India.
There are Mahindra and Reva electric-only vehicles for sale, with the usual
limitations. They are most used in commercial and a few private applications.

Report #7: Photos - The Fledge

Seven young engineers explore the idea of an Indian designed and built hybrid
car.

Team Portrait

The windscreen sits a bit forward and up to help direct air into the intake for
the engine.
direct

The roll bar is now in place.
Here you can also see the center console that contains the 4-speed
transmission and ducts fan-driven air from the front to the rear.
The clutch pedal is to the left, brake and accelerator to the right.

Report #8: Team Profile: Evergreen

Because the Tour de Sol has been going on _so_ long, we have the opportunity to
see long absent friends return.

We last saw Harold Garabedian and the eVermont crowd in 1999, "when we were the
overall champions with a Solectria Force running nickel metal hydride
batteries." They have not been idle in the mean time. They have returned with
a conversion of a Toyota Echo called Evergreen that runs on ZEBRA batteries.

((We'll take a slight diversion here. We didn't talk much about just how a
ZEBRA battery works. A quick trip to Google provided:

MES DEA S.A. of Stabio Switzerland makes the ZERBRA battery pack in the car.
Their web site says, "they use salt and nickel for electrode materials with a
ceramic electrolyte."

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_battery
The zebra battery, which operates at 250°C, utilizes molten sodium
chloroaluminate, (NaAlCl4) which has a melting point of approximately
160°C, as the electrolyte. The negative electrode is molten sodium.
The positive electrode is nickel in the discharged state and nickel
chloride in the charged state. Because nickel and nickel chloride are
nearly insoluble in neutral and basic melts, intimate contact is
allowed, providing little resistance to charge transfer. Since both
NaAlCl4 and Na are liquid at the operating temperature, a sodium-
conducting beta-alumina ceramic is used to separate the liquid sodium
from the molten NaAlCl4. This battery was invented in 1985 by Coetzer
in Pretoria, South Africa, hence the name zebra battery. The
technical name for the battery is Na-NiCl2 battery.

))

"The battery has been around for a while and constantly getting better. It's
at a point where we thought we would try it out and see how it performs." They
used the ZEBRAs in a Toyota Echo equipped with a drive system (motor and
controller) from Azure Dynamics (the successor company to Solectria). "The
systems are far smarter, more complex and more integrated, with more power and
more torque" than the old Solectria Force. Looking under the hood, the basic
layout is the same as before. "It has a smarter, digital controller. We have
CAN bus controls and information sharing, plus a battery management system.

"The passenger heating system is pretty sophisticated, since we come from
Vermont. It has both an electric and kerosene-fired heater set up so they can
be run individually or in tandem." There are two chargers on board, one each
for the front and back battery packs.

"We've known how to make electric cars for a while. We keep making refinements
to it. We are running about 20 kiloWatt-hours, 80 to 100 miles. We haven't
done a range test on it yet. The car has only been operational a week or two.

"The manufacturer sells the ZEBRA battery as a system with internal battery
management. They output that information to a CAN bus that we have integrated
with the controller and drive system. Much like today's modern cars, you can
connect up to a computer and see all the diagnostics and parameters at any
point in time.

"The mission of the car is, first of all, to show that battery electric cars
are still here and can perform, and that we are advancing the technology. We
will deploy this car in an integrated transportation idea to show that this car
can be part of transportation rather than thinking of all cars as personal
property. We'll have three cars." They built and are qualifying this one to
refine the next two.

Stephen Miracle joined in the conversation. They are using the controller to
get the best range and treat the batteries properly. "It is set to give
batteries the current draw they are looking for. 50 kiloWatts is the set peak
power, 20 kiloWatts is the nominal power."

Greg Wight mentioned that the project is sponsored by the Federal
Transportation Administration to put this into a transportation system. "A 4
passenger station car is the concept." Originally this project, started in
2002, was going to use the Ford Th!nk City vehicles, but they pulled out. Then
they thought they might get some Toyota RAV4-EVs, but that didn't happen. Then
Stephen said that he could build EVs, the board of directors said, "Go for it."
Stephen built the car mechanically. They then took the car to Azure where they
and a battery guy flown over from MES DEA worked together to make the Azure
software communicate with the battery system.

And there is another eVermont car, in transit from the west coast. "It's a
little bit different for us. It's a hydrogen powered Prius that is part of a
whole system that we are developing. There is an electrolyzer refueler system
to provide the hydrogen, generated with wind-turbine credited electricity. The
vision of the project is Wind To Wheels."

Report #9: Photos - Evergreen

eVermont returns after a long absence with another take on the idea of "station
car."

Look Ma! No tail pipe!

EVers always try to find a clever place to put the plug.

If you are familiar with the Solectria Force, you'll find this similar.
The bar between the shock absorber towers supports the motor.
The controller sits on top of the front battery box
between the front wheel wells.

The trunk contains the rear battery pack and battery support components.

Report #10: Team Profile: Vogelbilt

Carl Vogel returns to the Tour de Sol, both as a participant and a sponsor.
His company provides biodiesel to the Tour, both for participants and the
diesel generator used to charge the electric and plugin-hybrid cars. His
company in in West Babylon, New York. "We are going to have the first
renewable fueling station on Long Island, with biodiesel, biodiesel blends,
ethanol and CNG, branded as a Vogelbilt station."

His big entry in the Tour is #12, a stock Ford F-250 6 liter diesel that has
only seen biodiesel, and a little bit of kerosene during the winter, in its
81,000 miles. It was here at the Tour in 2004, when it was brand new, and
again in 2005.

His little entry is the Vogelbilt electric motor cycle, which has also been
here before. "It was featured on Discovery Science recently, as part of the
CoolFuel Roadtrip series. (It's earlier title was Eco-treker.) They had the
bike for about a year. The started in Wisconsin, and visited Florida, New
York, Miami and California. It was one of their primary vehicles." The whole
idea was to go around and try all sorts of cool transportation. But the
motorcycle was that vehicle somehow got involved.

A bike story. "Marty thought they were finished with the bike and was playing
around with it, smoking the rear tire. It grabbed the ground and snapped the
belt. Shaun was upset because he needed the bike for the last stop to finish
the show, so they had to scramble to find the belt. It's two teeth shorter
than a standard Harley belt, so you really have to look for it. The hunt for
the belt became part of the show."

What's next? The biodiesel business keeps Carl busy. "We have BioHeat for
home heating, and making the fueling station happen. And then a biodiesel
motorcycle. The TDI-like engines on a motorcycle would still be a low-emission
engine with lots of power. And sound!" And if you like, smell like french
fries.

Carl always brings his Elec-Trak lawn tractor to the Tour de Sol,
but we haven't found a category to enter it in.
It would probably win by default.

Report #12: Greasecar

Cosimo Ferrante is standing next to this _tiny_ lime-green and white car,
wearing a teeshirt that declares MadHouseMinis.com. What are we looking at?

"This is a 1980 Austin Mini Clubman, made in the United Kingdom. In about 1970
they facelifted the Mini Cooper, and offered the round-nosed Cooper or the
flat-nosed Clubman. The Clubman was a popular style in Australia and New
Zealand, but it wasn't in Europe or the US."

But this isn't an original. It has been modified to make it into a Greasecar,
that can run on waste vegetable oil. What had to be done? "We lengthened
lower section of the front nose to fit this Peugeot 1.5 liter diesel engine
into it. That engine was popular in French and UK cars in the 1980s, but never
intended for this body."

Cosimo did the car modification to make it ready for the Greasecar kit. In the
rear boot there are two tanks. A welded aluminum tank for the vegetable oil
has an internal heater and sleeved fuel lines to keep the vegetable oil fluid,
and the original steel tank carries the diesel or biodiesel needed when
starting and stopping the car. Each tank has its own external filler cap,
labeled "Vegetable Oil Only" or "Diesel Oil Only".

Justin Craven is founder, owner and operator of Greasecar Vegetable Fuel
Systems LLC in Easthampton, MA, which offers a kit to convert a conventional
diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil. That is what was done to this car.
Next to the diesel engine is a machined block with steel jacketed fuel hoses
going into and out of it. When you start the car, the diesel tank is connected
to the engine, through this block, by both source and return fuel lines. Once
the engine is warm and the vegetable fuel is warm enough to flow, the system
switches over to vegetable fuel by connecting the source and return lines to
the vegetable oil tank. Finally, before shutting off the engine, the vegetable
fuel is "purged" by running diesel fuel into the engine but leaving the
vegetable return line connected. Thus the diesel fuel displaces the vegetable
oil, preparing the engine for its next cold start.

Justin started working with this technology in 1998. "We have been in business
since the beginning of 2001. It was a slow start, but now with fuel prices so
high people are looking for alternatives and small independent companies like
Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems offer options that the larger manufacturers
don't. Right now we are averaging 20 sales a day. Each kit is a full
secondary fuel system: tank, filter, all the valves, plumbing and wiring;
everything you need for the vehicle you are doing. The prices start at $795
for most passenger vehicles and up towards $2000 for the larger pickup trucks.
We have had people with limited automotive knowledge do the conversion, but it
is a bit of a project, so it is not for everyone. But we also have mechanics
in different parts of the country who can do the installation for you. They
are listed on the website.

Report #13: Photos - Greasecar

Driving on used vegetable oil takes a waste product and turns it into a fuel
when the car uses the Greasecar conversion kit.

This restored Mini Clubman does not look 26 years old.

The engine and Greasecar components.

Closeup of the Greasecar components.

If it wasn't for the signage, you might not notice that this car has both a
left and right fuel cap.
(All the Tour de Sol entrants have to demonstrate safe handling
characteristics,
hence this zig-zag-through-the-cones test.
You kissed one! But it is still in the circle, so you're OK.)

This Mercedes Diesel uses essentially the same Greascar fuel system as the
Mini.

Report #14: Interview: Nancy Hazard, Director of the Tour de Sol

Nancy has found lots of things to be excited about this year.

"The return of the eVermont people is tremendously exciting to me, for a lot of
reasons. Not only are their continuing the research they have been doing for
years and years, but now they have some new vehicles. And the kinds of
vehicles they are working on are spectacular. The fact that they brought the
Evergreen, battery-electric vehicle with a much better battery than in previous
station cars, to the Tour is great. It brings us full circle from where we
started. They are taking delivery soon on a Prius running on hydrogen. And
they have ordered a plugin-hybrid Prius. I find the plugin-hybrids thrilling.

"We can increase fuel economy, shrinking the energy pie, by getting a high
percentage of the vehicles traveling in electric mode, at least in part."
Nancy also sees shrinking the energy pie as helping the biofuels, because they
can then be a more significant percentage of the whole, even with limited
production. And of course biofuels are recycling recent carbon-dioxide,
because the CO2 in exhaust can be taken up by growing plants to become the
biofuel on the next cycle.

"The Viking32 from Western Washington University is using biomethane. This is
the first year they have brought their own biomethane, created from landfills
and farm manure. Methane (CH4), molecule-for-molecule is 20 times as potent a
greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide (CO2). So by capturing methane, using it to
power a car and releasing carbon dioxide, you've greatly improved the
atmosphere over the case if the methane had been released.

"The vehicle from India is also exciting, for a number of reasons. They have
looked at the transportation needs in India and are trying to meet them. I
like that thinking, creating a vehicle that uses the least amount of energy
possible to fulfill that mission. Their one person gasoline / plugin electric
hybrid tries to address those needs.

"We have a number of one-person vehicles entered, including the around-town
vehicles. Optibike from Colorado and RunAbout Cycles from Massachusetts are
both emerging and getting into production. Optibike is going to attempt to
demonstrate the ability to go 100 miles in three hours. Now they have been
training in the Rocky Mountains, so they may see this area as flat, and our
lower elevation as oxygen rich, but averaging 33 miles per hour on regular
roads with stop lights and signs and traffic is amazing!

"The National Technical School for the Deaf is one of the eight colleges of the
Rochester Institute of Technology. Their 12 member team is bringing two
E-Bikes that they have designed themselves.

"Paul O'Brien, who was active with the Tour for many years is coming back.
Their team was the first to bring a fuel-cell powered vehicle (actually a
human-hybrid tricycle) to the Tour in 1998. They a bringing a GEM neighborhood
electric vehicle that the students are using for experimentation. And they
have partnered with the Vreeland Institute of Arts and Sciences to create an
educational trailer with every renewable technology on it you could imagine.

"We also have a GEM from a company called Solaqua which will be providing a
solar-powered public address system for our press event. The vehicle _is_ the
PA system.

"And, as an example of meeting the goal of less energy intensive transportation
by lowering vehicle weight, we have an exhibitor, Starfire, at the press event
that has a light-weight ceramic disc brake rotor that also claims superior
braking ability." They have a product for motorcycles, and are working on ones
for vans and trucks.

"The scoring of the Tour de Sol Competition has changed this year. In the past
the `green' parts of the scoring, for example fuel economy and climate change
emissions, were about 40% of the grade. Acceleration, hill climb, range,
handling, etc. were the rest. Now the divide 50-50. That makes the
competitions in the alternative fuel categories much more competitive."

Since it began, the Tour de Sol has sent the message that how we create and use
transportation has effect on our economy, our climate, and our quality of life.
Recent increases in gas prices and weather events have reinforced the message.
How has that affected the Tour?

"I feel we are at a point where we can talk about climate change emissions from
transportation. It has been on the front cover of Time magazine, the National
Geographic and Forbes and written and talked about extensively in the business
and general news communities. The question used to be was there a problem.
Now it is, `What do we do about it?' The Tour de Sol has always been solution
oriented. Transportation contributes one-third of the climate change
emissions; that's a fact." The things you see at the Tour can help change
that.

Report #15: Team Profile: Woodstock and Moritz

Environmentalists often bemoan the distortions that "the marketplace" inject
into the value of natural resources. But sometimes the marketplace can be made
to work for you in your desire to be "green". Such is the message that Ken
Wells and the team from Saint Mark's School have attached to their two entries
in the Tour de Sol.

Woodstock is a Ford Ranger 4x4 converted to electric drive by the St Mark's
EV club. It has a 300 Watt solar panel over the truck bed to charge the
batteries with "free" solar energy, but it would take a very, very long time to
fill the batteries that way. So they plug it in. But when they do they also
charge from solar panels and wind power, but without owning other solar panels
or a wind generator. Instead they buy their green power from a green supplier
through the grid.

"The pollution of generating electricity comes from the source of the power you
buy," Ken explains, "and we buy green power. We are using this truck to tell
the public how they can buy green power too." St. Marks buys its recharging
power from Conservation Services Group. "They have a product called
ClimateSAVE that is 95% Kansas wind and 5% Evergreen solar. Evergreen places
50 kiloWatt solar panel arrays on top of BJ's stores; there is one 6 miles from
here."

Moritz is a TDI Volkswagen Jetta running B100 biodiesel. "We display these two
vehicles side-by-side to illustrate our theme: The Hybrid Driveway. If you can
only have one car, a hybrid is a good idea. But if you separate the electric
from the fuel drive you can capitalize on each's distinct advantages. Last
year Woodstock got 92 miles per gallon equivalent, with no greenhouse gas
emission. The biodiesel car gets over 700 miles per tank of fuel. It's
lifetime average as a biodiesel is about 45 miles per gallon, with the
performance you expect from a turbo. On biofuels, Moritz is about as clean as
a Toyota Prius."

Report #16: Photos - Woodstock and Moritz

One battery electric EV + one biodiesel TDI Jetta = one Hybrid Driveway
or so says the new math.

Woodstock, the battery electric EV of the equation.

Motitz, the biodiesel TDI Jetta.

One way to get accurate fuel usage measurements is to have a removable fuel
tank and to weigh it.
Moritz has such a tank.

It is hard to read the bumper sticker in this photo, but it says
"Powered By American Electrons".

Ken Wells makes the case for the EV half of the Hybrid Driveway ...

and the biodiesel half.

Report #17: Monte Carlo Rally Entries: The Turbo Insights

Both Willie Williford from Campo California and Jack Lee from Venice Florida
are here for the Monte Carlo Rally, and they both have Honda Insights that they
each have turbocharged.

Willie is an old racer guy. "I heard people complaining that the little Honda
Insight has no power. So, in February of 2003, I showed them that you can get
power out of the car without sacrificing gas mileage. Willie came 3,053 miles
at an overall average of 64.2 miles per gallon. "That's running a posted or
above speed limits. In other words I went with the flow of traffic. If they
were doing 80, I was doing 80. If they were doing 65, I was doing 65."

Jack says that he followed Willie's example. Starting with his ideas, Jack
made a hybrid-turbo-hybrid compressor. "In other words the turbine section,
that runs off the exhaust gases is for a 1-liter size engine, like the Honda
Insight. The compressor side, that supplies the forced air to the engine is
for a 1.4 liter engine. That makes it a hybrid-turbo." Willie helped Jack
develop the first version, and then Jack upgraded it for his newest Insight.
"It is a Garrett water-cooled, ball bearing turbo engineered by Performance
Turbos out west. It is _specifically_ designed for a manual transmission
Insight."

Jack makes the point that before Willie made is turbo modification to his
Insight, the popular wisdom on Insight Central was that it couldn't be done.
"In a standard Insight, if you drive 80 miles per hour, you are going to get
about 55 miles per gallon. Sure you can get great mileage, but not at true
highway speeds. With Willies turbo, he get 64 miles per gallon at those
speeds; fast enough to please a motor head! Now he is known at
InsightCentral.net as the father of the Turbo Hybrid."

At this point, the designs that Willie and Jack have produced are not offered
commercially. But Jack offers free technical support to anyone who wants to
put a turbo system in an Insight. "I know exactly how to do it. I can talk
them through the process." There is also an exhaust system modification that
helps the turbo performance.

Willie reinforces the point that the cars still gets good mileage when driven
for mileage. "We didn't destroy that. You don't have to get on turbo. It's
just when you need that extra passing power, you have it with the turbo. Also,
Jack's car was tested for emissions in California, and it is cleaner than a
stock Honda Insight."

Jack's has the Rostra Global Cruise Control on his car. "They have one
specific for the Insight." Willie does not have cruise.

Report #18: Photos - Turbo Insights

Some think the Honda Insight looks faster than it is.
By turbocharging them, appearance and reality align.

Willie explains his modifications.

A closer view.

Jack discusses his variation on the theme.

Jack's modifications.

An important part of the Tour de Sol is the exchange of ideas between the
participants.

Report #19: Exhibitor Profile: Solaqua

There were a number of exhibitors at the Tour's press event on Thursday, and
this one certainly drew some attention.

Jody Rael was there to explain with something that looked like a car stereo
freak's fantasy that was providing public address sound for the press event.
On the side it says:

Solaqua: Bringing Art to Power and Power to Art

"This is the solar powered GEM car from Solaqua Power and Art. Solaqua: Sun
and Water. We are proposing to convert a paper mill in Chatham New York into
an industrial art center that runs on sunlight and water. The electricity will
be generated by solar power and hydro and that will be used to make hydrogen
for furnaces, glass blowing and a small foundry."

Is hydrogen common in glass blowing? "No. It is sort of the elite of the
gases because it is so very hot and clean."

The vehicle is a two seat GEM with a large fiberglass box on the back. The
large side doors on the side of the box are covered in about 600 Watts of solar
cells, and they lift up to face the sky. Inside on the driver's side is a
wall-of-sound: a collection of Bose speakers that look ready to create a lot of
sound. "A 12 Volt car stereo powers it. I've had solar powered public address
systems since the early 1980s and this is version 8. This is the community
outreach vehicle for Solaqua Power and Art. We are a not-for-profit trying to
bring energy information to the community, making it fun for kids and families.
The Art Space real estate group in Minneapolis is doing the feasibility studies
and get this off the ground. I think we could be up and running in 3 to 5
years."

"We are also doing solar photovoltaics and solar hot water systems
installations, both residential and commercial.

"We are getting into soy polyicyene foam insulation. The first generation of
foam insulations were polyurathane, that made cyanide when they burned.
Polyicyene foam is much more inert which they are now making with soy oil
instead of petroleum. It is almost entirely an organic, renewable product."

Report #20: Photos - Solaqua Sound GEM

This looks like a car stereo nut's fantasy or a boomboxphobe's nightmare.

The circular disk in the center is one of those discharge displays
(is Seven-of-Nine here?)
and the rectangle is an LED light organ.

Report #21: Exhibitor Profile: Starfire Systems

Chad Rittershausen rode into the exhibit area on a 2001 Ducati Monster, painted
up with Starfire Systems and Starblade. I asked what this was all about. "I
do the riding of this bike, to test our Starblade product."

"Starblade is the name of the ceramic rotors in the disc brakes on this bike.
The ceramic brakes are about 1/3 the weight of a typical motorcycle rotor. The
brakes on the Chevy Tahoe behind us are about 1/3 the weight of the cast iron
original equipment. On the Tahoe, that saves 20 pounds of unsprung weight a
corner.

"On the motorcycle, the reduced weight makes it more nimble. The gyroscopic
forces on the tires are much less. Racers and normal street riders find that
leaning the bike becomes less effort and produces less fatigue. And the
braking performance exceeds the original equipment.

"The brake rotor is a composite ceramic part. The ceramic polymer part is a
liquid at room temperature. It is fired in a kiln to turn it into an amorphous
silicon carbide. The fabric reinforcement in the part is a traditional carbon
fiber, such as found in sporting equipment. The result is a very hard, very
durable ceramic.

"When braking, the brake pad, pressing against the spinning rotor, creates what
is called a `transfer film' that coats the surface of the rotor. The adhesion
of the transfer film to the rotor is what does the braking. That is why you
replace brake pads more often than rotors, because they are constantly
transferring this film. The wear on our rotors gives us 2 to 3 times the life
of cast iron which cuts down on maintenance. Because the rotors are harder and
don't wear as much, we can use a much more aggressive pad, which shortens
stopping distance." In fact, they have `negative fade'. As they get hotter
they grab the rotor a little bit more.

Do I need a special caliper? "No. We use the standard caliper that comes on
the bike."

"The motorcycle rotors are sold through a distributor in California,
BrakeTech."

The Chevy Tahoe is a test vehicle for a project with NYSERDA, the New York
State Environmental Research and Development Authority. "We are showing the
viability of this technology on larger vehicles, up to a city bus."

Comparing the cast iron to the ceramic brake rotor.
Note that the iron rotor has cooling voids, where the ceramic rotor is solid.

Report #23: Exhibitor Profile: Roosevelt Island Hybrid Transit Bus

Edwin Dominguez is a bus operator for the Roosevelt Island Operating
Corporation which runs 9 city transit buses on the island community between
Manhattan and Queens. Last February they took delivery of four Orion 7 diesel-
electric buses. "It is powered by a small Cummins engine, which drives a
generator that charges the batteries on the roof. One electric motor then
drives the bus."

The bus is 40 feet long, seats 42 people, and stands 30. "But sometimes we get
about 80 people in the bus."

"When I drive it, it is very quiet, very comfortable, and very smooth." The
driver's have a Recaro seat. "The climate control is great. In many ways it
is like a regular diesel bus, but more efficient. The riders are very
interested in the technology. `Is this all electric?' `Do you plug it in?'"

At this point Paul Chilkotowsky joined the conversation. "There is a battery
conditioner that can be used to charge the batteries." He is with Daimler-
Chrysler Commercial Buses North America at Orion Bus. BAE Systems is the other
partner in this enterprise. They provide the series hybrid propulsion system.
There is no transmission. The electric traction motor directly drives the rear
wheels through the differential.

Buddy Sadar is the technician for the bus. "This is improving our fuel
consumption and reducing emissions." The fuel economy on the bus is about 8
miles per gallon. On the regular bus they get about 5 or 4. "And engine
maintenance is easier. We also save on oil changes."

On Manhattan island, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has 325 Orion
hybrids of various vintages, and they expect another 500 Orion 7s.

Report #24: Photos - Roosevelt Island Hybrid Transit Bus

The hybrid buses in service on Roosevelt Island are low-floor,
kneeling and wheelchair ramp equipped.
The box on the roof holds the batteries.

It still looks cramped, but the word is these buses are easier to work on.

The view inside, looking to the rear.

Report #25: Team Profile: Electrovaya maya-200

The promise of Lithium Ion batteries in electric vehicles has been a long time
coming to fruition, but Electrovaya has brought a battery-electric Smart car to
the press event. It uses their Lithium Ion SuperPolymer technology, mounted in
in a 30 kiloWatt hour pack under the floor, to drive the vehicle.

Sankar Das Gupta is the President and CEO of Electrovaya in Ontario Canada. He
brought me up to date with their news. "We have developed this car for the
Norwegian market. Norway has the most progressive zero-emission vehicle
regulations on the planet."

The base vehicle is a Smart fortwo. "It is a zippy little car that should
deliver 300 kilometers. It accelerates like mad. Highway driving is not a
problem. It's a great car.

"The market launch was in Norway in October 2005. It is just now going on sale
in Norway in conjunction with Miljobil Grenland and the Norsk Hydro Group. This
particular model is _not_ for sale in the US, but it is in Canada. Our focus,
however is on Norway.

If I remember correctly, when the Smart car was introduced in Europe there was
talk of an EV version and a claim that it would be easy to adapt to pure-
electric drive. "They had left quite a bit of room below the floor for the
battery. But we needed to add a motor, motor controller and on-board charger,"
which required some fitting.

"Our initial production will be in Toronto, but our plans are to move it to
Posgrunn in southern Norway."

Report #26: Photos - Electrovaya maya-200

Report #27: Monte Carlo Entrant: Hymotion

The idea of the plugin hybrid has gone from Wha? to Wow! in the past few
months, even though we have seen variations on the theme as TdS entrants for
some years. What was once experimental is on the cusp of becoming commercial.

Hymotion of Concord, Ontario Canada, has a modification to a Toyota Prius that
sits below the cargo area in the rear. Ricardo Dazzarella told me about the
Plug-in Hybrid System, Toyota Prius L5 Lithium Power product. "We install a
kit that has a 5 kiloWatt-hour battery pack to supplement the original battery.
It should take less than two hours to install. It is a drop-in system.
Everything is inside the box. The battery level display on the Prius will show
the Hymotion battery state of charge until the Hymotion battery is discharged.
Then the display shows the car's built-in battery state of charge.

"We are seeing 30 miles (50 kilometers) of purely electric range at about 35
miles per hour." The engine kicks in if you go faster, but the battery
contributes a lot. When plugged in, an interlock prevents the vehicle from
moving.

"As I said, everything is inside the one box: the batteries, charger, battery
monitoring, electronic control unit (the main brain of the module), a crash
sensor and a safety switch when the module needs to be worked on. It weighs 72
kilograms.

"The battery is lithium ion. We haven't disclosed our battery supplier yet.
We will do that very shortly.

"We are selling these to governments, fleets and power companies. We are doing
a slow deployment to collect data in demonstration projects. This summer we
planning to collect data from a crash vehicle. In 4 to 6 months we plan to
begin selling to the early adopters who have put their names on our web site.

"Our published price right now is $12,000, but we want to get the price down
below $10,000 before we sell to the public.

"Two vehicles are on the road doing testing. We have 10 that will ship soon to
our early industrial and governmental customers.

"We will be selling through dealers trained in doing our installations."

I had not heard of this until the Tour. "We started our company in June 2005.
We were running under the radar until we announced at the Detroit Auto Show in
February."

A model for the Ford Escape Hybrid is also in the works. Will there be one for
the Hybrid Camry? "That is the next one."

Report #28: Photos - Hymotion

The all-in-one unit fits neatly in the spare tire well and storage area under
the rear deck cover.

Report #29: Team Profile: Sunpacer

The Sunpacer is _the_ solar electric car from Cato-Meridian High School in Cato
New York. I asked student T. K. Hayden to tell me about it.

"This is it's fourteenth Tour de Sol. It started in 1992." Where you alive in
'92? "I was 2. It has gone through a lot of changes. It has low drag front
wheels and suspension. It started with big, bulky, heavy solar panels in the
back and huge lead-oxide batteries. Over time we have refined it and made it
better. Now we use model kit solar panels (like those used in the Junior Solar
Sprint cars) which saved a tone of weight over the old ones. We have some of
the old panels that we use for additional charging." They set them up next to
the vehicle when it is parked. "We now have Ovonic nickel metal hydride
batteries in a 56 Volt pack.

"This year we got a new driver's seat. We made it ourself. Matt Tucker is
about 6 foot 6 and didn't fit in very well, so we made this one adjustable.
Tucker is the only one with both his license and his motorcycle permit. The
rest of us only have our permit.

"We also have a new battery system. We had 8 batteries last year, but had a
partial thermal runaway. Now we only have 4 batteries, which dropped some
weight.

"Our display board tells the story of the car. Solar cells and how they work.
Our sponsors are recognized. Then we go through the car, from the beginning:
frame, suspension, hydraulic brake system, the wheels, tires, everything.

"We took the side off so you can look in. The interior is very open, very
available, and easy to work on."

Report #30: Photos - Sunpacer

This has been a vehicle with staying power,
in the Tour de Sol since 1992.

I just noticed the overhead rear view mirror, mounted top-center on the
windshield.

Opened up for service.
Notice that the older solar panels can be stored below the back array.
A Tour de Sol rule allows solar vehicles to use extra panels for charging when
stopped provided they are carried by the vehicle during the event.

If you've built a Junior Solar Sprint car, you might recognize these solar
cells.

Here you can see the sort of stress the wheels are subjected to during the
"cone test" that evaluates the vehicle's handling.

Report #31: Team Profile: Zodiac

The West Irondequoit Solar Car Team has been bringing Zodiac to the Tour since
2000. The Zodiac and Sunpacer to a large extent compete head-to-head. They
are both 3-wheeled, light, single-person, solar-electric vehicles. (But this
may be the last year that happens. See below.)

Sean Harriman listed this year's improvements. "We have new gel-cell batteries
in our 60 Volt, 10 block pack. We went down a size. They are more compact.
And it's a gel form so there is less leakage, so there is less electricity
leaking to the frame.

"The motor is the same, but we changed the gear ratio to give us more torque."

They spend a month or so before the Tour we prep and ready the car. But most
of the time they work on the Mini Cooper.

"Mini Cooper project has been going on for about 2 years. We built the frame
and we are building the body now. We plan to make it into another solar
electric car."

This is not a restoration. They designed and built the frame from scratch.
They are currently making a mold off an original Mini Cooper body, but then we
they will make their own body out of fiberglass.

"The suspension is from a Mazda Miata. It would have taken too much time to
figure out the suspension ourselves. The frame is mostly complete. We the
seats in and the brake systems are done.

"We have about 15 people on the team. Meetings are every Monday night, 6 to
8:30 and about 7 people show up. We just work on the car.

"We have funding from many organizations. All of our sponsors are listed at
our website."

Report #32: Photos - Zodiac

Zodiac is ready to start the hill-climb test.
The little window below the Peak Performance logo lets the driver see the nose
of the car and the road immediately in front of it.

The motor is mounted directly above the rear wheel, driven by a chain.

With the side off you can see some of the batteries (with the yellow tops).

The solar teams are particularly popular when the students visit, especially if
they have been to the Junior Solar Sprints.

Report #33: Team Profile: rEVolutionride

This Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro was turned into a battery-electric van in 2002
by the students on North Haven Island off the coast of Maine. It has been in
daily service since then, meeting the boat and driving around the island.

I asked Natalie Jones, Ben Lovell and Ian Hopkins what has been done to it
recently.

"We made it a completely green vehicle. It now charges off the solar panels on
the roof of our school, North Haven Community School. The PV array on the
school is 5.2 kiloWatts, which is enough to completely recharge this vehicle.
When not recharging the van, the power is fed into the electric grid under a
net-metering arrangement. If the power goes out on the island, the PV array
can run through the emergency panel to keep the telephones, computer server,
and some other things."

The cost of electricity on the island is 30 cents per kiloWatt-hour.

"The put in a new cable under the ocean from the mainland. They buried it this
time. The old cables were just laying on the bottom and would get damaged.
That should improve reliability. They also added a fiber optic cable to bring
cable TV to the island."

"Last year we installed new batteries. Plus we added two additional batteries,
upping the voltage to 120 Volts."

They also make their own biodiesel fuel. "We have a generator that we have
been running off biodiesel. We are in the process of converting it to run WVO
(Waste Vegetable Oil). We brought our own biodiesel generator with us to the
Tour and all our tools have been running off of that."

Natalie and her friend Amelia Campbell were the ones responsible for putting in
an extra two batteries into the van. "We wanted to change from 108 Volts to
120 Volts, for more power during the Tour for more range, and it really helped
on the hill climb. On island we only need 108 Volts to get around. So we
installed two more 6 Volt batteries and connected it to the main battery system
that is under the bench seats. So we made the extra battery box, epoxied it,
painted it, and over the past week we added all the extra wiring.

"We also put the sparkles on. Amelia and I are the only girls on the team
right now, and we like sparkles, but the guys didn't really like that. So they
agreed that we could put sparkles inside the box but had to leave the outside
black. When they take the batteries out next time ..."

The Second Annual Green Grand Prix will be held in Watkins Glen, NY on June 2,
2006. The Green Grand Prix features a road rally of Hybrid and Alternative
Fueled Vehicles (AFV) held on an 84-mile course following the perimeter of
beautiful Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. The road
rally will bring together Hybrid and AFV owners for a fun and exciting
educational event emphasizing fuel economy. By holding The Green Grand Prix
rally the same weekend as the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix; we hope to increase
public awareness of environmentally friendly vehicles and to offer another
activity for visitors coming to the area for the race.

Report #36: Team Profile: Viking32

Western Washington University has a long standing Vehicle Research Institute
that keeps cranking out interesting takes on the concept of "vehicle". And
even when we have seen a vehicle like Viking32 before, it keeps becoming
something new. It returns as a biomethane vehicle. I spoke with Calvin Liu
and Sean Aylward.

Why biomethane? Natural gas, the fossil fuel, is methane (CH4), so they are
taking methane created by biological processes and using it to fuel the car.
"Our biomethane is about 85% of the energy content of natural gas. This gives
us a little bit less power and range, but not that noticeable an amount."

The team brought canisters of fuel with them, created at WWU using diary farm
manure. "They have an anaerobic digester at the farm, and collect the gas for
us. We then filter the gas, taking out hydrogen sulfide and CO2, to purify it
to just biomethane. Ideally, it would be 100% biomethane, but "we didn't have
the time to pump it up to 3600 pounds per square inch (psi) at the rate were
able to filter it and with the type of pump we have. With a better pump and
more time we could get up to 3600 psi and have 90% biomethane." Because they
couldn't, they brought fuel that is 50% biomethane and 50% Compressed Natural
Gas (CNG).

"Normally the methane would just be vented to the atmosphere. Instead we use
it in the car." The resulting exhaust is mostly CO2. This also helps with the
problem of manure runoff.

What's new with the car? "We have doubled the power in the battery pack. It
was originally designed for that, and now we have finally found a way to put
them in. We now have 5.3 kiloWatt-hours on board. We hope to see 70 miles of
electric range. The methane tank is 770 standard cubic feet. With the tank
and electrics together should be around 250 to 300 miles."

Last year they had problems that shut them down. "We had a Honda Continuously
Variable Transmission (CVT) that had problems with the clutch. We thought we
had figured it out but it took us a while to really understand it." Dealers
don't repair CVTs; they ship them to Honda. "We couldn't get any help from
them."

Report #37: Photos - Viking32

Another in the long line of Viking research vehicles from Western Washington
University.

Starting up the hill climb.

Explaining the biomethane filtering process to the press.

The fuel tank and engine are seen in the rear. The engine drives the rear
wheels.
The electric drive is on the front wheels.

The parallel lines are the tops of hexagonal carbon fiber tubing that is part
of the crash energy absorbing system in the front of the car.
Note that the door is hinged at the rear.

Report #38: Tour de Sol Winners Announced

from the NESEA press release ...

The Tour De Sol,
America's #1 Green Car Show and Competition,
Demonstrates How to Reduce Oil Use and Climate Change Emissions By Over 100%

Tour de Sol Winners Announced

GREENFIELD, MA -- May 14, 2006 --

The results are in - and over 50 light duty vehicles competing in the Tour de
Sol, America's #1 green car show and competition "driving toward zero carbon
emissions" demonstrated their ability of reducing oil use and climate change
emissions by over 100%, compared to conventional vehicles that achieve the 27
Miles Per Gallon (MPG) CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard for light
duty vehicles.

Held May 10-14 at the Saratoga Spa State Park and Saratoga Automobile Museum in
Saratoga Springs, NY, the Tour de Sol featured entrants in three separate
competitions who turned in spectacular results and took home trophies and
$10,000 in cash prizes. Using many energy efficiency techniques, and in some
cases switching to less carbon intensive fuels such as compressed natural gas,
biodiesel, vegetable oil, or electricity and hydrogen from clean renewable
sources, the entrants demonstrated an average of 66 MPG, 140% above the current
CAFE standard, and reductions in climate change emissions of 130%.

Wayne Gerdes of Illinois, West Philadelphia High School of Philadelphia, PA,
Greasecar Vegetable Fuel System, of Easthampton, MA, Burlington County Electecs
of Lawrenceville, NJ and Optibike of Bolder, CO took top honors.

"For auto enthusiasts and environmentalists these are tremendously exciting
results," said Nancy Hazard of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
(NESEA), organizer of the Tour de Sol. "This demonstrates what is possible
today and that we can do even better in the near future. We must work together
and continue to develop vehicles that aim to cut oil use and climate change
emissions to zero."

"We have been very impressed with the innovative technologies demonstrated by
the vehicles participating in the Tour de Sol," said Peter R. Smith, President
and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority,
premier sponsor of the event. "NYSERDA is pleased to have brought the Tour de
Sol to New York State to showcase how we can lessen our dependence on foreign
energy sources, and control our own energy destiny."

In the Monte Carlo style Rally, Gerdes drove a stock Insight from Chicago on a
single tank of gas achieving 90.4 MPG and captured the grand prize of the Monte
Carlo-style fuel efficiency Championship. Two other interesting independent
teams, Jack Lee from Venice, FL and Willy Williford from Campo, CA, had added
TurboChargers to their Honda Insights, which have a 57 MPG EPA rating. Jack
Lee's vehicle demonstrated over 76 MPG.

Perhaps the most interesting entry in the Monte Carlo Rally was a modified
Honda Insight employing Plug-In charging and Integrated Motor Assist, and a 5th
wheel powered by an electric motor for faster electric startup. This unique
vehicle, driven by Mike Dabrowski of North Grosvenordale, CT. achieved an
overall performance of 82.49 MPG and took 3 awards, including the top "Plug-In
Hybrid" Award.

Additionally, HyMotion, from Concord, Ontario, Canada, showed one of the most
interesting commercial options that could take hybrid technology to the next
level. HyMotion's PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle) kit is designed to convert a
Toyota Prius or Ford Hybrid Escape into a hybrid vehicle that can drive in
electric-only mode for 20 miles, and plug into an electrical outlet for
recharging. The advantage of such a vehicle is that, in normal use where daily
driving is often between 20-40 miles, it could reduce gasoline use by 50 to
80%, and shift its motive energy to electricity from the Grid that can be
produced by zero-carbon renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

In the alternative fuel division of the Monte Carlo-style Rally, Homeland
Energy Resources Development drove a Honda GX that runs on compressed natural
gas and has been cited as the "cleanest car on earth." Greasecar Vegetable
Fuel Systems entered an Austin Mini Clubman converted with their kit to run on
100% vegetable oil. Eastern Biofuels, the largest biodiesel supplier in the
Northeast, refueled the biodiesel-powered vehicles. The Gavin Watson team
received a cash prize from the National Biodiesel Board for taking first place
in this division with a 1973 Porsche 914 powered by 100% soybean oil that got
53 MPG and reduced climate change emissions by 87% compared to a conventional
27-MPG vehicle.

"We were thrilled with these performances," said Jim Dunn, CEO of the Center
for Technology Commercialization, Monte Carlo-style Rally sponsor. "Over
twenty teams entered conventional hybrid cars and demonstrated their ability to
exceed the EPA MPG standards in every case - and the modified hybrids turned in
spectacular results."

Sixteen teams entered the Tour de Sol Championship this year. This competition
challenges entrants to build one-of-a-kind highway-worthy vehicles that aim to
reduce oil use and climate change emissions to zero. West Philadelphia High
School took top honors in the student Hybrid and Alternative fuel division.
Their purpose-built sports car that can accelerate from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds
achieved a fuel efficiency of 55 MPG. The Greasecar Mad Mini team carried the
day in the independent division with Mini Cooper Clubman with Greasecar
Vegetable Fuel System kit installed so that it could run on 100% vegetable oil.

In the battery electric division, EVermont, from Waterbury, VT demonstrated
incredible fuel efficiency of electric vehicles with over 160 MPGe (Miles Per
Gallon equivalent), while the Burlington Electecs of Lawrenceville, NJ took top
honors with a student-built electric vehicle. In the Solar-Assisted electric
division, the West Irondequoit took top honors in the one-person category, and
St. Mark's School, Southborough, MA, took top honors in the two-person
category. St. Mark's and the North Haven Community School from North Haven,
ME, tied for the "Renewablity Prize," demonstrating zero climate change
emissions. St. Marks purchased green electricity from their local utility to
run their car, while North Haven added solar panels to their school to generate
electricity to run their car.

Another unique team, which traveled from Delhi College of Engineering in Delhi
India to the Tour de Sol, showcased a one-person hybrid vehicle. Their vehicle
demonstrated the importance of designing a vehicle to suit its use. This
vehicle was designed to address the transportation needs of millions of people
in India that presently use highly polluting motorcycles by presenting them
with a practical, very efficient hybrid option.

"We saw lots of innovative ideas in these one-of-a-kind vehicles that students
and independent teams brought this year," said Dr. Robert Wills, technical
director of the Tour de Sol Championship. "As in the past, we hope to see many
of these technologies on the showroom floor in the near future - helping to
clean the air we breathe and reduce carbon emission."

The new Around Town Vehicle Competition grew to eleven entries this year. This
competition challenges entrants to design motorized vehicles that could replace
the conventional car in our communities with zero carbon emission vehicles.

In the production division both Optibike and RunAbout Cycles attracted much
attention. Optibike, of Bolder, CO, demonstrated an amazing range of 104 miles
in less than four hours on its electric bicycle, Optibike 400, which uses
lithium batteries. In the independent and student divisions there were four
entries using lithium batteries and two using lead acid batteries.

In the neighborhood electric vehicle division, competition was fierce with
three GEMs entered - one from the Southern Berkshire Regional School,
Sheffield, MA and two from the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, NY.
All of the vehicles drove over 20 miles with conventional lead acid batteries
and received a cash prize from the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium for
their achievements. The Berkshire school also brought an amazing educational
trailer with wind and solar demonstrations. Lastly Newburgh Free Academy, New
Windsor, NY, entered several interesting non-road vehicles.

"We were thrilled to see the Around Town Vehicle Competition grow this year,"
said Paul O'Brien of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, creator
of the new NEV competition rules. "This kind of a project is affordable and a
great teaching tool. It involves research, problem solving, teamwork, computer
and hands-on experience, and it creates awareness about our energy and
environmental challenges and possible solutions in the transportation sector.

Premier sponsors of the 2006 Tour de Sol were the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority and the Center for Technology
Commercialization. Additional key sponsors included the New York Power
Authority, the Saratoga Automobile Museum, Stewart's Shops, New York State
Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, Eastern Biofuels, New
York Department of Environmental Conservation, Toyota, the UK Trade &
Investment, Honda, Kurkoski Solar Electric, Westboro Toyota, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, E-The Environmental Magazine, EIN Publishing,
and GreenBiz.com.

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, organizer of the Tour de Sol, is
the Northeast's leading organization of professionals and concerned citizens
working in sustainable energy, and whole systems thinking. NESEA facilitates
the widespread adoption and use of sustainable energy by providing support to
industry professionals and by educating and motivating consumers to learn
about, ask for and adopt sustainable-energy and green-building practices.
NESEA accomplishes this through conferences, K-12 educational resources, its
members and chapters, its Sustainable Yellow Pages, and public events.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Center for Technology Commercialization

Event-Site Hosts

Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Automobile Museum

Report #39: More Reports Coming

The Winners have been announced, but the Reports have not ended. There are
several more hours of interviews and lot of pictures coming. Stay tuned.

Report #40: Exhibitor Profile: Miles ZX40

Kevin Kiley is the President of the Miles Automotive Group
(MilesAutomotive.com) had white 4-door EV on display at the press event. "It
is a low speed, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV). The top speed allowed by
NHTSA Standard 500 is 25 Miles Per Hour. They are currently legal in 47
states. They can be licensed and driven on roads with a posted speed limit of
35 MPH or less. We import them from China as you see it.

"The car is offered as both a 2-seat and 4-seat model. It is all steel, using
reinforced steel construction. It is manufactured as an electric vehicle with
4 sealed, deep cycle, glass mat, lead acid batteries; two in the front (under
the hood) and two in the rear." These are very big 12 Volt battery blocks.
"They weigh 117 pounds each. So it is a 48 Volt system. There is a DC-DC
converter for the 12 Volt loads and a Curtis 1204-404 controller that drives
the front-wheel drive brushed DC electric motor. The range is approximately 40
miles per charge, and the intelligent charger will recharge over night from
either 110 or 220 Volts AC.

I noticed a PulseTech PowerPulse Battery Maintenance box on the firewall of the
motor compartment. "It is a battery life extender. It sends a deep cycle
charge into the batteries and cleans them. Lead acid batteries build up
deposits over time, but the PowerPulse extends the battery life by as much as
50 percent."

The car has been in development for about two years. "The car has been on the
market for 6 months and we have sold about 60 cars to military bases, college
campuses, utilities, prison systems; primarily fleets. The car can be
registered and titled as street legal," although you wouldn't want to take it
out on the Interstate.

The unit price of a ZX40 is $14,800, plus options.

"We think we have a very good market in those customers. Down the road we have
several other models under development. The ZX70, to be introduced in June,
uses the same platform with a more powerful motor and controller and two more
batteries, and the range increases to 60 miles per charge, and the speed to 35
MPH. That will be for off-road use only because our research tells us there
are a lot of fleet customers who don't intend to register cars that they don't
use on the roads. But they would like something with a bit more power and
range."

In late 2007 they hope to introduce the XS200 All Electric Vehicle powered by
breakthrough Chinese Lithium-Ion technology, promising an anticipated speed of
up to 80 miles per hour and a range of 200 miles. Projected MSRP: $28,500

Report #42: Team Profile: The Attack

Of the vehicles that come to the Tour de Sol, one that always turns heads is
the Attack from West Philadelphia High School. It looks fast, cool, and sexy.
It also is black, although the message is green. It was originally conceived
as a biodiesel hybrid, but the electrics are not working so it is here just as
a B100 car. Originally the front wheels were going to be driven by an electric
system and the rear by the biodiesel engine, but the electric system has been
removed.

Tyson Drummond gave me the story. "We had problems with the controller and the
batteries. It really wasn't looking right. So we took it out because it was
too time consuming.

And what is different on the biodiesel side? "We have bigger injectors, and we
had to change the fuel lines again. The ones we used last time were just like
regular fuel lines, and the biodiesel was eating through them. The ones we
have now are biodiesel rated.

"And we had to fix the axle again. Last year the shaft for the axle was too
short. We had the measurements wrong." So it was always under stress. "Then
we had made the correct measurements but the sleeve for the weld was weak. The
sleeve for the weld is stronger now."

The West Philly team created a great deal of buzz with their car and their
performance in last year's Tour de Sol. "The team was always confident about
their work but this year they are more confident because they know what to
expect." And the Philadelphia media has been paying attention. "They visited
our school several times."

Tyson has been member of the team for three years and now is a senior. "My
plans after school is to go to ATC (Automotive Training Center) in Warminster
PA. I want to continue working with alternative fuels."

But after he and the other seniors move on, the team will reshuffle. "The co-
captain will become captain and someone from the 10th grade will become junior
captain." Other team members at the Tour are Jesse Jones, Tyshem Lovett,
Joseph Pak, David Epps, Kosi Harmon, Bruce Harmon, Christopher Newell, Jeffrey
Daniels, and Calvin Cheeseboro.

Report #45: 2006 Bradford Teacher Award Recipient: Paul O'Brien

Each year the NESEA presents an award in memory of long-time Tour de Sol
participant, organizer and teacher George Bradford. This year it was given to
Paul O'Brien who for many years brought the Project e- ("E minus") team from
the Mount Everett Regional School in Sheffield Massachusetts to the Tour. He
has not been at the Tour in recent years, but he and his students have
returned.

Paul O'Brien got hooked on teaching over 30 years ago - and got
involved in the Tour de Sol in the early 1990's. He worked with his
students on several innovative entries, including the first fuel cell
entry -- a trike -- in 1998. In spite of the fact that he is now a
school administrator, he still works with a group of students on an EV
project. This year, he has worked with NESEA to create a new
competition for Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV), which will be
part of our Around Town Vehicle Competition. It will challenge high
school students to install solar panels on a NEV and learn how solar
power can help meet the energy needs of the vehicle.

I renewed my acquaintance with Paul and asked what has he been up to. He is an
administrator now; he has hung up the chalk!

"I have. The administrative position of Technology Director came along and I
jumped into it. Just recently I've come back into the Tour de Sol and bringing
kids along with me. It is funny because I sit at a desk all day long, push
things along and make things work, so the interactions with students are
limited. This opportunity to get back with kids made a big difference for me.
I'm questioning whether I want to stay as an administrator or go back to
teaching. The action is where the kids are."

The Mount Everett team had two things with them. One is a GEM NEV used as a
student project and competing in Around Town Vehicle competition. The other is
a trailer that demonstrates many forms and sources of alternative energy.

"Let's talk about the trailer. The Vreeland Institute is a non-profit
organization promoting alternative energy; alternative fuels, solar, wind and
fuel cells. The trailer is a traveling exhibit of all those technologies. The
trailer will be at the Tour de Sol each year, at Earth Day and school events,
and it will be a research lab on our campus. It will be a semi-permanent
display on our campus where high school kids can do research projects on
alternative energy. We also use it as a charging station for the GEM. The two
working together, the trailer and the GEM, got me back hooked back in.

"Our neighborhood electric vehicle is a 25 mile per hour with a 25 mile range.
We added solar panels and a sound system as a first phase. We'll look into
different batteries and different motors and better solar panels. It will be
another platform for high school kids to get engaged with this, and for me to
enjoy working with high school kids again. I'm remembering what that passion
is really about." The GEM is also used by the athletic department and
maintenance guys around the campus.

Getting it registered by the state was a bit of an exercise. "It took six
weeks to get the attention of the Registry of Motor Vehicles."

Other aspects of the project were much easier. "When the newspaper did a story
about getting back into electric vehicles, I got flooded with people saying,
`We remember what it was like, and what you did with kids. Can we be in on
this?'" That happened without soliciting. They raised money and got the
vehicle. "Our area loves it. Today we are on the front page of the Berkshire
Eagle with the sponsors names on the side."

Is this a class, a club, extra-curricular project? "That is great and
important question for educators. This issue of doing it as a club has been
very hard. It means after school or weekends. When I did this full time as a
teacher it was a course. So next year I'm going to have one class where I will
teach this. It will probably be less than 10 students, and this is all we will
do all year long. It will merge math, science and technology, and social
issues. We did presentations for kindergarten kids where we showed them the
trailer and took them for rides in the EV. I was trying to make a point of
what was going on with gasoline and wasn't getting through to them. Finally I
said, `Raise your hand if you heard your folks talking about the price of
gasoline.' Every hand went up. So they will be involved with this as time
goes on.

"In 1993, the first year we did the Tour de Sol, we were asked when we thought
electric vehicles would be common. I remember answering, `When gasoline is $5
a gallon.' 13 years later ..."

If you have read the Tour de Sol Report from 1997, you might have run across
the story about the Project e-pickup truck going to the high school prom. "The
truck still exists. We are looking for some sort of propulsion system. We are
not going to put lead acid batteries back in. If the right thing comes along
and someone wants to work with us we'd put it back on the road tomorrow."

(I later heard from Paul that the _reason_ the girl was asked to the prom in
the electric truck was because she was a great welder!)

Report #46: Photos - Paul O'Brien

Paul O'Brien (center) is presented with the Tour de Sol's 2006 George Bradford
Teacher Award by Nancy Hazard (left) and Jim Dunn.

Report #47: H2Prius: Another eVermont Car

I ran into Harold Garabedian of eVermont next to the hydrogen-powered Prius
that had just been delivered. It took me a few moments to realize that this
was an "ordinary" Prius that had been converted to burn hydrogen in the engine
that normally used gasoline. When I looked under the hood, it looked the same
as every other Prius I've seen, at first glance. "The hydrogen is delivered
here. The injectors were changed to handle gaseous fuel. It's turbo charged."

The conversion was done in California by Quantum Technologies. "The only thing
that is different is that it has a compressed gas refueling port. It's a smart
system. There is a data port that interacts with the refueler. It takes 5,000
pounds per square-inch (PSI) hydrogen. It carries 1.6 kilograms of hydrogen.
A kilogram of hydrogen is about equivalent to a gallon of gasoline, so the car
has a nominal range of about 80 to 100 miles. We built a PEM (Proton Exchange
Membrane) electrolyzer, made by Proton Energy Systems, powered by a wind
turbine" to create the hydrogen from water; the oxygen is vented to the air.
"So the vision of the project is `Wind to Wheels', to demonstrate sustainable
transportation energy.

"Nothing different up front, inside, or in the back" except for the pressure
tank "but the car has no carbon emissions, and the energy comes from the wind.
And the point is that it is done today, with existing technology, as opposed to
fuel cell cars which are at some point in the future, maybe."

So, when they evaluate this, what will the measures-of-merit be? "What we are
looking for is vehicle performance comparable to the unconverted vehicle. The
other issues will be the ease of refueling, and efficiency. We expect a slight
efficiency gain, overall, in terms of the vehicle-engine system. We need to
document that. Then we will evaluate system efficiency. How efficient is it
to extract wind energy, convert that to hydrogen, compress it, put it into a
car and then drive it? It will be placed in daily routine service to
demonstrate practicality. It will be at the Burlington Vermont Department of
Public Works. They will use it for job-related duties around town.

If you didn't have the signage on the car, you wouldn't know it was a hydrogen
car except, "it is a tad quieter, because the hydrogen combustion process is
not a noisy as gasoline." And I'm told that the exhuast smells "clean."

While talking with Harold and the other eVermonters, I discovered that I had
the wrong idea of what eVermont was. "It is not a state agency. It's origin
was a public-private partnership where state government had a prominent role
getting it organized. Governor Dean, back in 1993, was behind it. It was in
reaction to the auto industry saying, `if the northeast states adopt the
California 2% (of cars sold must be zero emission) mandate, all those electric
vehicles won't work in cold weather.'" Many thought that the engineering
challenges were solvable, not to mention that Solectria and EV hobbiests seemed
to be driving around the northeast. "Rather than have a food fight, we said
`let us look as this as the engineering problem that it is and let us show, in a
public way, proof-of-concept solutions to the legitimate issues being raised.
We'll put before the public the technology and solutions.' So it started as
state government, academics and private enterprises, partnering to get federal
grants to do those demonstrations. eVermont has morphed into a private, IRS
501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization, where the only tie to government is
through the donation of some of a small percent of my time. I'm employed by
the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. eVermont stands on its own by doing
projects of public significance. It's mission is to influence public policy
through the demonstration of technology. It's leadership by example.

"A project like these takes a vision and puts it before the public so that they
get information that is not solely dependent on commercial interests. The
eVermont projects try to show the possibilities for clean air, sustainable
energy and economic development through real world, day-to-day, on the road
experiences.

"The Evergreen electric car we saw earlier is part of a broader concept, namely
that as a society we need to move away from transportation being thought of as
personal property to `mobility service', much as you buy internet as a service.

"eVermont has no employees. It picks up contractors and technical support
services only for specific projects."

Report #48: Demonstration: Honda FCX Fuel Cell Car

Lawrence D'Arco, who is with the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, is here with Honda's hydrogen gas powered fuel cell car, the FCX.
(I presume that stands for something like Fuel Cell eXperimental).

"We have two in the New York state fleet, that we lease from Honda. There are
twenty-two world wide. They sent them to Albany because New York state is very
progressive in terms of alternate fuel vehicles and because they wanted to run
these in a cold-weather climate and see how they operate. The hydrogen gas is
fed into the fuel cell, which produces electricity, which runs the electric
motor. The only thing that comes out of the tail pipe is heat and water vapor.
When the vapor condenses it is clean enough to drink."

These cars are normal state motor pool vehicles, although not given to just any
driver. There is an orientation. "The only difference is how you start it.
You turn the key and then you must wait about 10 seconds. After that it is no
different to drive than any other car. What is different is that it is
quieter, smoother, and has excellent acceleration."

We went for a ride. After Lawrence turned the key, the dark dashboard display
panel lit up with "Fuel Cell Powered", a couple of logos, "System Check" with a
bar graph showing progress, and then the dashboard lit up with the usual dials.
That was the 10-second start-up. "It may have been even less than 10 seconds
since it has recently been driven."

Backing out of the parking spot, the FCX showed its EVishness by making no
perceptible noise. "The graph on the left, the blue bars, shows the
electricity being produced by the fuel cell. The yellow bars show the
electricity coming from the ultra-capacitor (which takes the place of a
battery pack). "The ultra capacitor is used to keep up with sudden load
changes, and takes in energy created by regenerative braking. "The white bars
below show the amount of recharging." There is a display, measured in miles,
labelled "Distance To Empty", which read 100 miles when we started. "And these
blue bars indicate how much fuel is left. It has this gasoline pump symbol on
the gauge, but my pump station doesn't look like that."

As we drove, there were times when the energy use bars all showed zero; we were
just coasting. But when he punched the accelerator pedal, the car demonstrated
strong, smooth acceleration. The sound of acceleration is a quiet, smoothly
rising pitch, without the jumps associated with gear changing because there is
none. The electric motor connects to the front wheels without a transmission.

What has been the user reaction to the FCX? "I've not spoken to anyone who
disliked driving this vehicle. I've only heard good things about the
smoothness, the responsiveness, the quietness, and the acceleration. The one
disadvantage is the range, about 160 miles. " The only hydrogen station is in
Albany.

"There is one family in California that has a fuel cell vehicle; the only one
in the world. All the others are leased by government entities." As you might
expect, the car itself collects constant data, which Honda collects
periodically. "They were wondering who was driving the car at 85!"

"There is a lot of emphasis on hydrogen as the future, but there are a lot of
hurdles. To perfect this technology they have to bring down the cost, and
create the hydrogen infrastructure. If you had millions of vehicles with water
coming out of their tail pipes it would be pretty awesome, especially compared
to what we are doing now," but we should wonder what effect that might have.

Report #49: Photos - Honda FCX

Last year the Honda FCX's were newly leased to New York State.
Now they have accumulated a year of experience.

Honda's Fuel Cell powered FCX.

Opened up for inspection.
Note the hole in the side view mirror;
I wonder why?

Under the hood.

Report #50: Interview: Drew Gillett

Drew, who hails from Bedford, New Hampshire, has been volunteering at the Tour
de Sol since forever. His steady-state job is to post the routes that the
competition follows from place to place, or sometimes in winding closed loops,
with colored laminated cards with arrows that point the way. Having driven the
routes, I can tell you that it is harder than it sounds and that Drew has
developed techniques that can help keep you on course when you're trying to
watch traffic and follow a map and read a milepost-by-milepost narrative.

This year he did an analysis of the Toyota Prius entrants in the 2005 Monte
Carlo-style rally and came up with some interesting results.

"As I see it, the first Prius model is an honest 50 miles-per-gallon car. The
entrants varied in mileages from somewhere in the 40s to 70s, by typically right
around 50."

"The newer Prius, from the same that same data, looks more like a 45
mile-per-gallon car. Part of the reason for that is that they made
improvements to get better mileage, but they also made it into a bigger car.
For example, it is now a 5 seat car with larger frontal area and more weight.
So its improved efficiencies were eaten up by it being a bigger, heavier car.
I'd say that it is an honest 45 miles-per-gallon car. Some people are able to
make it do really well. We've seen some up into the 80s. But overall I see a
bigger car with lower mileage."

I asked Drew if part of what he was seeing could be the difference between
drivers of the first Prius, with several years of driving experience, vs.
drivers of the newer Prius with considerably less experience?

"That is a good point. One of things that made the newer Prius get less
mileage was that they were driving, on average, faster. You learn not to do
that if you want good, high mileage.

"We didn't have so many cars that we could say this is statistically
significant to any great degree, but at the same time that was the general
conclusion I came to. I'll be very interested in seeing if we draw the same
conclusion this year."

Can we say similar things about the Hondas?

"The Insight has been the same, year to year. Every manual Insight is like
every other; every automatic Insight is the same as every other also." So the
comparison between model years doesn't change much.

"What is really interesting are the folks who have put turbochargers and stuff
like that on the Insight. By increasing the engine horsepower and efficiency,
they can run the car at 80 miles per hour with 50-to-60 miles per gallon."

Drew's wife Barbara drove their 2002 Prius in both last year's and this year's
Monte Carlo rally. "She gets better with age. Last year she got 62.something
MPG and this year she got 63.6. She is quite happy."

So I don't think the divergence is as great as Drew suggests. And these are
not statistically significant data. "Your mileage may (read `will') vary!"
But the way we get statistically significant data is by having many more
participants.

And if you are a driver of a hybrid, or _any_ vehicle that you think gets great
mileage, consider entering the Tour de Sol Fuel Efficiency Rally next year!